Most of the time, the world “alcohol” paints a picture of a person whose life is in complete disarray because of drinking too much. However, not all alcoholics may be categorized into such a stereotype. There is, in fact, another kind of alcoholic known as high-functioning alcoholics.

High-functioning alcoholics often appear to have everything going smooth sailing.

Often, their success works against them by making them believe that their drinking is under control.

However, after a few months or years, the alcoholism can catch up with them.

It may be very challenging to deal with high-functioning alcoholics.

Often, they are in deep denial concerning their problems with alcohol. After all, they were able to manage an appearance of success despite their impending addiction. Also, many high-functioning alcoholics have loved ones who act like their accomplices by covering up for the consequences of their habits. These people unconsciously enable or encourage the behavior of their alcoholic friend by allowing him to continuously be destructive.

A high-functioning alcoholic is often educated and middle-aged, possibly married with a good family and has a successful career.

Contrary to the stigma of a lonely, desolate and destitute alcoholic, family members and friends may not be able to recognize that a drinking problem even exists.

All day these high-functioning alcoholics stay productive by going to work, going to the gym, and then go home and slug two bottles of wine or other liquor in excess. Often, family members consider this as their normal behavior since the person is still keeping up with his obligations.

High-functioning alcoholics may not be drinking every single day but they may engage in several episodes of heavy drinking or binging every few days. High-functioning alcoholics may not recognize their drinking problem. It is what leads to a double life separating personal and professional life with drinking life.

Although it may seem that this person has his life in order and on the surface does not appear to suffer from alcohol use disorder, high-functioning alcoholics are likely to have developed a tolerance to alcohol. Hence, the need to take in more amount each time just to get drunk.

Other warning signs you should watch out for are:

The inability to stick to limits on their drinking successfully.

The need to drink alcohol to relax or relieve stress.

Frequently jokes about alcoholism or alcohol use.

Engaging in hazardous behaviors when drinking such as driving under the influence or going for risky sexual encounters.

Show periods of sobriety with restlessness, mood swings, agitation, and irritability.

Justifies the drinking as a form of reward.

Drinking in secret or by oneself.

Periodic blackouts and memory lapses

Also, the person may go through withdrawal symptoms and feel hungover when they remove drinking alcohol from their habits. Many highly functional alcoholics are able to train themselves to be able to function normally despite the negative effects of alcohol on their body. This will also be made possible with the help of addiction treatment center.

Often, the signs of addiction are the loss of productivity in school or at work and the inability to fulfill work and family obligations consistently. However, a highly-functional alcoholic may not show similar signs. Over time, alcohol affects the brain negatively eventually making the person non-functional. As such, it may get more difficult to get tasks done through time.

Detox of South Florida is committed to providing educational articles to help those who are struggling with addiction, to make the change to living an addiction free life.

Why Do People Abuse Spice?

The main reason so many people are turning to this drug is because Spice can mimic the effects of marijuana. In fact, the cannabinoid compounds found in Spice products act on the same cell receptors as THC, the primary psychoactive component of marijuana. Plus, it is easy to get. Smoke shops and convenience stores across the nation sell synthetic marijuana labeled as herbal incense. This makes the drug affordable and easily obtainable.

But what defines “drug abuse”? How can you identify a problem in yourself or someone else? We review here. In this article, we cover the signs and adverse side effects of Spice abuse. Then, we outline the sources for help and what you can do to quit Spice abuse safely. Finally, we invite your personal questions about Spice at the end. We try to answer each personal question with a prompt reply!

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Ready to Quit Spice?Dial 1-877-959-3459 to reach a FREE HOTLINE.You can quit once and for all!Trusted Help Available 24/7.

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How is Spice Abused?

Like marijuana, Spice is mainly smoked. Sometimes it can be added to hot water and prepared as herbal tea for drinking. The drug is also mixed along with marijuana for smoking. However, smoking Spice with weed can provoke intense reactions, some of which may be life-threatening. What’s worse, you may smoke these two drugs together without knowing as some dealers enhance pure marijuana with Spice or another brand of synthetic cannabis to produce heightened effects.

First, any use of Spice is considered abuse. We abuse drugs when we intentionally use them for their psychoactive affects. In this way, drug abuse occurs when you take Spice for its euphoric effects or as a way of coping with stress. When you use Spice to get high, you are intentionally stepping away from reality. How can you identify use?

A person on Spice will give clear signs of being under the influence of the drug. Some of them include:

Physical signs:

hunger or thirst

impaired speech

increased heart rate

nausea

profuse sweating

shakiness

vomiting

Psychological signs:

anxiety

agitation

delusions

euphoria

hallucinations

paranoia

restlessness

Behavioral signs:

abnormal or erratic behavior

aggression

decreased social interactions

neglect of responsibilities and obligations

personality changes

strained relationships with family and friends

violent outburst

Adverse Side Effects of Spice

Spice will always vary in composition and potency. No single batch will be like any other. The notion that Spice is a natural, safe and toxic-free drug can’t be father from the truth. People who use these substances cannot know the precise array of chemicals that are in them. Serious, even lethal, outcomes can result from their use.

How does it affect the body? Common effects of Spice include:

Anxiety, panic attacks, or paranoia

Giddiness

Hallucinations

Increase in heart rate and blood pressure

And although Spice may have similar effects to marijuana, but the drug has a much faster onset and can be more intense. It is much more likely to produce serious adverse effects in users, regardless of whether they are fist time users or have been abusing synthetic marijuana for some time. Convulsions, organ damage, or death are possible.

Serious Negative Side Effects of Spice

Some of the serious adverse and negative side-effects that Spice users may experience, include:

Coma

Elevated blood pressure

Hostility towards others

Kidney damage

Loss of consciousness

Seizures and tremors

Suicidal thoughts and actions

Spice abuse can also have deadly consequences, usually as a result of sudden outbursts of violent behavior, suicide, or unintended injury.

Spice Overdose: Call 911!

Since the side effects of Spice abuse can vary from person to person in intensity and severity, it may be difficult to determine when someone just has a strong reaction to the drug or is overdosing. The more serious side effects of Spice overdose include:

Vomiting

Violent behavior

Confusion

Paranoia

Suicidal thinking or actions

Seizures

If someone close to you has abused Spice and is now experiencing adverse and violent side effects, it’s best to seek medical help immediately. Call 911 ASAP! Then, inform the contact representative that the person has taken Spice and report any other drugs or alcohol taken with it. Make sure you provide clear instructions about your exact location. You can stay on the phone with medical professionals to receive instructions about how to aid the person until they arrive. Stay calm. Emergency responders will require police back up if the situation is aggressive or dangerous.

NOTE: Poison Control Centers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for help and advice Spice overdose and its risks. All calls are free and confidential. You can call the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 anytime if you or a loved one have taken too much Spice.

Help For a Spice Abuse Problem

Take hope! Spice problems can be treated medically. Medical professionals address a Spice problem for both physical and mental dimensions. Here are the three main stages of Spice treatment help:

STAGE 1: Initial assessment.

The purpose of the assessment phase is to determine the severity of a Spice problem and to develop a personalized treatment plan. During this phase, people go through an interview, a physical exam, medical/family history and a drug screen. Interview questions are usually standardized. The process can take 1-3 hours to complete, but is well worth the time. This way, people with a Spice problem can better understand the holistic nature of the problem.

STAGE 2: Medical detoxification.

Detox is an intervention during which Spice is eliminated from the body in a safe and controlled environment. Detox clinics are staffed with doctors and nurses trained in helping you cope with the withdrawal symptoms of early abstinence. Without professional assistance, Spice withdrawal can be unpleasant, dangerous and even life-threatening.

STAGE 3: Therapy + Counseling.

Spice abuse treatment also includes psychotherapy and behavioral therapies, such as:

Educational sessions

Family, Individual, and Group Therapy

Nutritional Counseling

Pharmacological therapies

Career, Legal, or Social Counseling

Wellness Activities

All these interventions and therapies aim to help you get to the root causes of your addiction and to adopt new, sober behaviors.

Who Can Provide Such Services?

A number of professionals! In fact, it is up to you to decide which source of help you are most comfortable to reach out to. Here, we suggest a few possible options to get you started.

A Spice abuse helpline – A drug hotline is safe and informative place where you can get answers to your questions about Spice abuse. You can also find out whether you have an addiction problem and get started on your way to resolve your Spice abuse and any other mental health issues that may co-occur. In fact, when you CALL 1-877-959-3459 you can talk openly and honestly about your situation. Judgement free!

Drug treatment centers – There are specialized Spice and K2 addiction treatment programs that accept and treat patients who are addicted to Spice. Inpatient rehab centers offer all services from detox to aftercare planning in-house, while outpatient programs are also available for those who don’t require a residential stay at a rehab.

Pharmacists – A pharmacist at your local pharmacy can help fill prescriptions for medicines used to treat Spice withdrawal symptoms. Pharmacists can also suggest over-the-counter medicines and herbal remedies that can help any minor symptoms of Spice withdrawal.

Physicians – Your primary physician can be your first point of contact and can run initial tests to determine the severity of your Spice abuse. Physicians can also refer you to an addiction treatment center fit for your needs.

Psychiatrists – These mental health specialists provide psychiatric help for people addicted to Spice.

Addiction specialists – Doctors who are Certified Addiction Specialists (CAS) can help people with recurrent or chronic problems with Spice abuse and/or other drugs.

Spice Abuse Questions

If you have any other questions on the matter of Spice abuse, side-effects and consequences, feel to ask or comment in the section below. We try to respond personally and promptly to all legitimate inquiries.

These are just some of the issues described in Ann Douglas’ book, Parenting Through the Storm. Driven by her own children’s experience with psychiatric and learning disabilities, Ann Douglas felt that parents who face these challenges deserve to be heard. She wrote this book in the hope to help other parents whose children are diagnosed with psychological disorders.

More on how to end the silence between you and your child and reach out for help here – with a section for questions and comments in the end.

The idea behind Parenting Through the Storm

Ann Douglas wrote this book to broaden up parents’ perspectives about the challenges that await them during their children treatment journey. Parenting Through the Storm is a collection of different family experiences with psychological problems. This book intends to show parents who struggle with these issues that they are not alone. The idea behind the book is to offer parents of children diagnosed with psychiatric disorder(s) direction for help and educational resources.

We think that the book achieves this goal.

Reading it can help you to relate. You’ll see how other families overcome similar issues and share the load. What are the main themes in the book? Here’s what we learned.

What will you learn from this book?

This section of the book includes detailed instruction about how to notice abnormal changes in your child’s behavior. You’ll also find a list of mental health indicators in children and teenagers which might come handy if you suspect any problems.

PART 2: Rebuilding the parent-child connection

The focus of this section is the importance of finding the right diagnosis that will describe precisely what’s going on with your child. Here, Douglas speaks about the importance of parents’ health and well-being, as well. When one member of the family is weak, others need to remain strong. To do this, we need to take care of ourselves!

PART 3: Family adjustments

This part of the book broadens the perspective of readers to motivate them to look at other family members who need to adjust to live with a diagnosed member in their home. This includes lifestyle changes from each family member (parents and siblings) in order to maintain the strength of the family and help each other easily go through the process of recovery.

PART 4: Community influence

This section of the book broadens up the picture of what it means to have a child with psychiatric problems. This involves the challenges of your child in school and during social interaction with friends which often time bully kids about their disorder.

PART 5: What happens during recovery

This part of Parenting Through the Storm looks at ideas for a better system of care for children with mental and behavioral health challenges.

Who is this book intended for?

This book is intended as a “first aid manual” to all parents whose children manifest signs of mental and emotional problems during their growth. Furthermore, Parenting Through the Storm aims to tighten the gap between recognizing your child’s struggles and being able to know what those struggles represent.

Why Parenting Through the Storm deserves a place in your personal library

We love and recommend this book because its a highly educational and practical manual for families who have children diagnosed with mental and behavioral health problems. Mental health issues are highly stigmatized in our culture. And when you ignore a mental health problem, risk of addiction as a co-occuring disorder increases. However, our connected experiences can help us grow personally, towards a united vision of holistic health. Parenting Through the Storm is a beacon of light along the way.

One of the things that makes this book special is that it acknowledges the importance and well-being of the whole family system during a struggle with psychological problems. Parents of children diagnosed with psychiatric diagnoses will find some advice in this book on how to take care of themselves during this process which can be stressful. The problems of a one family member affects the whole system. This is why Ann Douglas approach is integrative, treating each member issue with equal importance as to the one facing the psychological disorder.

An additional asset of the book is that it provides encouragement. Written in the form of a group memoir of those who have gone through the storm – successfully – this book offers hope and inspiration during a family battle with emotional and mental health disorders. We all need hope. Hope keeps us going. This book helps provide parents with the hope that things can and will get better.

Additionally, if you are left with any questions about this book, we ask you to post them in the section below. We also welcome your feedback if you’ve read the book, and would like to comment and share your opinion.

About the author: Ann Douglass is an award-winning parenting writer and the mother of four children who have struggled with a variety of psychological problems-and are currently thriving. She speaks widely at health, parenting, and education conferences. She also hosts online conversations about parenting and mental health for a range of organizations. With acclaimed books, including “The mother of All parenting Books” and “The Mother of All Baby Books” to her credit, Ann has helped hundreds of thousands of parents navigate the challenges and complexities of raising kids today. She lives with her husband and their youngest child in Peterborough, Ontario.

At MARC, clients step down through levels of addiction treatment as "they learn, demonstrate knowledge, and practice tools and techniques" under the care of their therapist and the clinical team, with the eventual goal of re-integrating into their daily lives.

Definition of Cocaine

Cocaine is a powerful stimulant drug that comes from the coca leaves. For centuries, South America people chewed and ingested the coca leaves to get the extra energy needed for farm works. The drug also helps them breathe in thin air in high altitude mountain areas.

Currently, the US government labeled cocaine as a Schedule II drug, meaning that the drug contains addictive properties. However, doctors can still use cocaine in their medical procedure as a local anesthesia in surgeries for the eye, ear, and throat. The drug typically sold in the black markets as a fine, white and crystalline powder.

Some of the street names of cocaine include:

coke

C

snow

powder

blow

Drug dealers often mix or (‘cut’) cocaine using readily available materials like talcum powder, cornstarch, flour, baking soda to increase their profits. Some users even mix cocaine with another drug like heroin and call it a ‘Speedball’.

History of Cocaine

The purified form of cocaine, cocaine hydrochloride was first extracted from the plant more than a century ago. During the early 1900’s, purified cocaine was used as the main ingredient for various elixirs and tonics. These so-called ‘medicinal’ tonics believed to treat several diseases. Cocaine was even the main ingredient in the early recipe of the famous Coca-Cola drink.

Before the discovery of local anesthetic, the medical community used cocaine to block pain in some surgical procedures. However, several types of research emerge indicating that the potent stimulant can cause damage in the brain functions and its structures.

How Cocaine is consumed

Users usually snort, smoke and inject cocaine. It is a fast acting drug which can immediately felt within 2 seconds to minutes after the last dose. It usually lasts between five minutes to ninety minutes. This can result in mental effects such as:

loss of contact with the real world

the intense feeling of happiness

agitation

fast heart rate

sweating

dilates pupils

In higher doses, the drug can cause:

high blood pressure

high body temperature

anxiety

sleep disorders

paranoia

tremors and muscle twitches

nausea and vomiting

rapid and weak pulse

chest pain

heart attack

kidney failure

seizures

convulsions

brain hemorrhage

stroke

What are opiates?

Opioids are a group of drugs derived from the Asian poppy plant. They affect the central nervous system and the spinal cord. Experts designed these drugs as chemically similar to interact with opioid receptors in the brain.

Some of the drugs that belong to this class are:

heroin

fentanyl

oxycontin

hydrocodone

codeine

methadone

morphine

These type of drugs are used as pain management medications and generally safe if taken for a short period of time. Doctors often prescribe the drugs after a surgical procedure to help them deal with the pain. However, even when prescribed legally the drugs can still produce tolerance and euphoria. Some users manage their way misusing the drug, either taking it longer or in higher doses. Drug overdose and deaths are common in opiate abuse.

How opioids work

Opioids bind the opioid receptors in the brain that controls pain, digestion and other bodily functions. Once these drugs flooded the brain’s receptors they weakened the person’s perception of pain. However, they also affect the reward system of the brain, producing euphoria which the users seek. Some people fall pray into this euphoric feeling and eventually get addicted to opiates.

It somehow leads in taking the prescription drug longer and in higher doses as the addiction develops. This put the users at a higher risk of serious health problems, drug overdose even death. The best way to avoid opiate addiction is to follow the strict prescription of doctors and take it only as needed.

Opiates statistics

Opioid addiction is on the rise, and opioid overdose deaths are a common scenario in emergency rooms nowadays. These drugs can repress the breathing process of the user, in an overdose scenario, the heart completely stops beating.

Around 200,000 people die from prescription drugs like opiates annually.

About 75% of those people are just teenagers.

Differences of Cocaine and Opiates

To sum it up and for the information of those who are in drug detox, cocaine does not belong to opiates as it acts as a stimulant. Opiates, on the other hand, bind receptors in the brain to dull pain, in some opiates it acts as a sedative. There are several more differences between the two drugs.

Here are some of them:

Cocaine contains more addictive properties than any other drugs.

This drug can kill users through cardiotoxicity, an extreme condition of the heart. Meanwhile, opiates repressed or decrease the breathing process of the user.

Since cocaine directly affects the heart it can cause immediate death, but opiates like in heroin, some of the effects are reversible using naloxone.

Cocaine came from the leaves of coca plant while opiates are derived from poppy plants.

Opiates often regarded as ‘downer’ it slows the user’s movements. Users often feel more relaxes and subdued. These drugs are often used a medical management for moderate to severe pain.

On the other hand, cocaine gives a stimulating effect referred to as ‘upper’. The drug can produce extreme happiness, elated and overly active.

Growing cocaine elsewhere can be a challenge, but it is possible. Also, cocaine needs a high level of industrialization to be produced. It has been estimated that around 297g of dry coca leaf can yield a gram of cocaine, which explains why its cost is more expensive than most other illicit drugs. By comparison, 297g of dried marijuana can yield the same amount of smokeable marijuana. As such, small-time barons opt to grow pot instead.

Indigenous tribes were known to chew on the leaves of the plant for a long time pre-European settlement.

By 1855, the German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke isolated benzoylmethylecgonine, its active alkaloid.

The substance became widely known as an anesthetic in Europe.

Sigmund Freud was known to encourage the use of cocaine in 1884 as a therapeutic tonic.

Freud argued in his paper Uber Coca that cocaine has the ability to cure sexual impotence as well as depression. Due to its growing recognition from well-known individuals, the cocaine industry was formed and colonial powers began to scout for regions where they can farm coca.

The plants, then, were brought over to Europe, Australia, India, and the rest of Southeast Asia. By 1920, the previously Dutch colony of Jana became the leading manufacturer of coca worldwide, exporting tons of coca leaves to companies in Netherlands. In the year 1925, this ended with the Geneva Convention that banned cocaine use for its addictive nature. However, as the people already knew that coca can grow outside of South America, they later reverted to Australia.

An Asst. Professor at the Texas Tech University in the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dr. John C. D’Auria conducted several studies on these plants and later revealed the intricacy of its cultivation.

While other illicit plants like marijuana can grow anywhere, coca is not as easy to grow. Dr. D’Auria revealed that the woody plant Erythroxylum coca is unlike the Cannabis sativa that is herbaceous. This difference is due to how they are cultivated. Coca has the capacity to grow 1,650-4,950 ft. in the humid Amazon forest giving its unusual proclivity for low atmospheric pressure and high moisture available in only a number of places outside of Andes.

Dr. D’Auria pointed out that growing tens of coca plants can be enough for occasional chewing or for making tea but may not be enough to get the purified form of cocaine from the coca leaves expecting high-yield from illicit sales.

He further exclaimed the difficulty of extracting a useful amount of the substance from the leaf of coca revealing that the process takes chemistry knowledge on top of skill. Because of this, Australian drug barons opted to import coke rather than to manufacture it themselves. However, there’s another way that has been overlooked.

The Australian cocaine shrub Erythroxylum australe native to the North Territory of Queensland and in the Northern New South Wales, contains 0.8 percent of medetomidine, the alkaloid comparable to cocaine although it is illegal to grow the plant in New South Wales.

Detox of South Florida is committed to providing educational articles to help those who are struggling with addiction, to make the change to living an addiction free life.

If used properly following under strict supervision methadone is an effective medication for severe pain. As a long-lasting drug, experts use it for Methadone Maintenance Treatment or MMT. For users who have been addicted to opiates such as heroin, MMT can ease the discomfort of withdrawal symptoms. The medication also helps the user’s chance of recovery in preventing relapses, a common occurrence during rehab.

Even during this MMT, health care providers need to meticulously monitor administering the drug to prevent overdose and further withdrawal symptoms. Methadone contains a long-lasting drug life which stays in the system for as long as 56 hours. If another dose is taken too soon, it can lead to a fatal drug overdose.

Quick facts about Methadone

Between the year 2001 to 2007, methadone abuse drastically increased seven-fold when doctors begun prescribing it as a pain reliever.

In a report about drug overdose in Florida that spans over five years, methadone ranks as the second cause of death. Cocaine still tops the list for drug overdoses fatalities.

In the US, methadone overdose fatalities increased about 400% from the year 2001 until 2004.

The most common effects of methadone are addiction, drug overdose and death.

Users typically combine methadone with other drugs and alcohol which lead to drug overdose.

Any substance that contains the following can increase the dangerous effects of methadone, these are:

o antidepressants

o alcohol

o anti-anxiety medications

o antihistamines

Prolonged use of methadone can result in tolerance to the drug. Once tolerance develops, addiction sets making the situation even more dangerous for users. In controlled condition, methadone is relatively safe but in other instances, it can provide a long list of health hazards as long as users abusing the drug.

Methadone Side Effects

Weight gain

Nausea

Intolerance to heat

Low blood pressure

Vomiting

Irregular heartbeat

Insomnia

Loss of sexual interest

Loss of appetite

Difficulty urinating

Swelling of hands and arms, feet and legs

A separate study conducted in New Zealand added health hazards which include:

Abscesses

Sleep disturbances

Dental problems

Sweating

Headache

Fatigue

Depression

Hay fever

Several symptoms of methadone users

People who abuse methadone suffers from poorer health condition than the other group of population.

42% of methadone users also suffer psychological problems like depression.

Users tend to have the poor diets, skipping meals for days and have cravings for sweet foods.

Methadone users also have difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep because of nightmares.

Effects of Methadone in Pregnancy

When a woman takes methadone during her pregnancy, her newborn suffers. The baby may suffer withdrawal symptoms that of adults after birth. However, the mother may not suffer from the withdrawal symptoms.

Some of the withdrawal symptoms include:

weight gain or weight loss

irritability

over activeness

seizures

If a mother who used methadone during pregnancy and breastfed her baby, the drug can make its way into her milk feeding it to her baby. Babies may show these symptoms:

In a suspected drug overdose, bringing the user to an emergency room is the safest thing to do. Ignoring to do so could lead to more fatal results and possibly death of the user. Upon arriving at the emergency room, doctors may administer several things such as:

Activated charcoal medication

Fluids via intravenous

Breathing tube

An antidote to reverse the effects of the drug

A tube inserted through the mouth into the stomach to wash it out (gastric lavage)

Induced vomiting

Doctors may also treat other methadone overdose symptoms as they arise. For severe cases, they administer appropriate medication for heart or kidney problems.

Detox of South Florida is the best rehab clinic that is committed to providing educational articles to help those who are struggling with addiction, to make the change to living an addiction free life.

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About Me

My name is Alex. I
got mixed up with drugs and alcohol most of my adult life. I came out the
other side. Here sharing my testimonial and helping others become sober. Now
living clean and living life to the fullest.